Mi Morena
by FemKatse
Summary: In spite of who they are and what they do, Ken longs for the love of the Swan. Songfic.


**Mi Morena**

_By FemKatse_

_Notes:The song "Mi Morena" is owned by Josh Groban. No infringement intended. "Mi morena" means "my dark one" in Spanish; used as a term of affection. "Mi querida" is Spanish for "my sole desire"; also used as a term of affection.This is assumed to be taking place prior to the end of Gatchaman I and before the Crescent Coral Base was destroyed. It is a fictitious AU outside the realm of canonical series occurrences. I do not own the show or characters, so don't sue._

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

Here in Spania the nights are beautiful. I almost forget spending most of my time underwater or hiding out in a nondescript room trying to stay away from the world. Away from you. But as I look out my window, a guest of honor in the palace of the King and Queen, I smell the rain, a purity I'd forgotten existed. A purity matched only by what comes forth from the darkness.

I've never told you. And I suppose I never will. Not unless Galactor is defeated once and for all. Berg Katse and Leader X must die or our world will know no peace, and neither will those of us adorned with feathers. Yet as you emerge into the courtyard my breath is taken and I find myself wishing more than ever that we weren't who we are. That we weren't the Science Ninja Team. That I wasn't Gatchaman. And that you were not the Swan.

_And so my love  
From my window I can see  
A beautiful vision  
_

This extended mission to guard King Umacha from Galactor's claws has thus far been uneventful and so I find myself restless. I don't want people killed but I'm a man of action and while you exude patience and appear nonchalant, I have sensed that you, perhaps even more than Joe, have also been prowling at night even when not on duty. This scene proves my suspicions to have been accurate.

Remaining in Birdstyle has never really bothered me, though I'll have to admit sometimes it's hard to sleep comfortably with these wings. I've longed to wrap them around you, to soar into skies we have neither ventured into nor talked of. I find it more and more difficult as the days pass, as I watch you standing guard or kicking ass at my side.

Your own actions have revealed your emotions run deeply as mine. You love each of us, it is true. But I have long sensed more between you and me and the older we get, the more woman you become. And the more woman you become, the more the man in this Eagle cannot hide what burns deep within.

Somewhere in the distance as thunder rumbles overhead I hear the sweet strains of instruments foreign to me. It appears the King himself can sleep no better than we as his minstrels pluck soothing rhythms from strings and bow. I know the melody is meant to lull but when your wings unfurl and you turn and bow to an unseen stranger, my heart stops beating. It becomes a sensual echo in my mind as the first drops of rain fall on my helmet. Your arms rise. You move a few steps and twirl. You are dancing.

_And when the music plays  
Your body rises like a bird of grace   
_  
Nothing more beautiful in this world than you. No sunrise, no sunset. Not even the idea of a world free of Galactor can compare to what my own guarded eyes see. You bend low, wings extended and moving forward to cover you. Then you rise as though born of the earth and the raindrops sparkle as they drip from you. One leg rolls high and I see beneath the skirt. A place I have often dreamed of being. Just holding you next to me. Touching you everywhere. Kissing you.

Wisps of your hair now cling to your back and I long to be there sheltering you, the Eagle soaring over the Swan, plucking her from the lake and taking her to his nest. The moment is reverent. It is the closest I have ever come to believing in a higher power. In believing there is a greater good. In believing we could be.

_Mi morena  
I saw you dancing in the rain  
Holy water _

You seem to illuminate the courtyard. The fountain splashes as you move around it. Your body writhes as though feeling unseen hands caressing you. They are _my_ hands. My mind takes over and I allow myself this moment where I can pretend it isn't really you, but only a ghost of you. That I really can jump over this balcony and float to the grass below. That the music mixed with gentle rain is the backdrop created by the gods for us and us alone.

_Shining like a silver flame  
Come like a ghost  
I will watch you dance alone  
_

Each time we are close you ignite a fire within me that will not go out. I have hatred in my heart for Berg Katse, for Galactor, for the evils they wage upon our world. I have hatred in my heart for what they did to my father, for what they did to Joe's parents. For all the wrongs that have been done against us and all the peoples of the world. And I never thought anything but that seething abhorrence could fill my heart.

But there _is_ something else that has found its way there. A light. It was small at first but it burned steadfast and true until now it is inextinguishable. Is it any surprise, Jun, that the light is you?

_Mi morena  
You're the light within my soul  
_  
Your skirt is plastered to your legs. I can see everything now. You glide about as though to a waltz, the strings being plucked for the King providing notes for one more striking and noble than any monarch could ever hope to be.

_And so my love  
The way you're moving in your dress  
To a nylon guitar  
_

My heart falls to the bottom of my chest as I see you look up. I stand still in the shadows but you are Science Ninja Team. It is impossible that you missed me. You lift into the night, embarrassed perhaps at being caught? Or at being watched? Or maybe at being watched by _me_. You must know of my feelings, Jun. I have seen it in your eyes.

Away as the final notes of the King's lullaby are played and you are gone before my eyes can follow you.

_On wings of silk and lace  
You lift upon the notes and slip away   
_  
And now that you're gone I follow my heart. I swoop down to the ground, crouching and watching every corner, always and ever at the alert. But the night is silent now save for the rain beating on my helmet. It creates a rhythm of its own as I approach the fountain. I see your faded bootprints and kneel to touch them.

If it weren't for who we were. If it weren't for who we are. But it is what it is and until that day comes when the world knows freedom I offer my heart to you. It belongs only to you. Beneath these feathered wings is a man of flesh and bone who has loved but one in this way. One who will forever remain within my heart, if only you would take it and hold it.

_Take this cross of feathers and bone  
Take this heart I've carved in stone  
In your name  
_  
Until then I must look to the horizon at each sunset and know that one day I will be able to walk up to you and take you in my arms. It is there, in the furthest corners of my mind that I hold what I feel. It is there I wait for you to come to me. And I will wait forever, if forever is what it takes.

_Where the setting sun surrenders to the moon  
Mi querida  
I wait for you  
_  
I hear a sound behind me and whirl, hands at the ready. But it is not the enemy. It is you. Your feathers droop and you shake them. Water sprays around you like an aura as you transform back to the real you. My first thought is to reprimand you, but I cannot, for you are beautiful. Your raven hair dampens and droplets on your cheeks look like tears.

My hands reach out for yours.

_Mi morena  
Hold your hands out to the night  
_

You hesitate. I can't read your eyes. And then I return to my form and the smallest of smiles graces your features. Your hands move, but then stop. I sense no one watching, so the doubt can come only from within you. Do it, Jun. Right here and right now. I promise you, you won't regret it.

_Be my lover  
I will fall into your eyes  
_

I'll do anything, Jun. I'll go after Katse right now and kill him with my bare hands, just so you and I can do this. Just so I can let the fire consume me. Consume us both. Please take my hands and let me make love to you. Let me show you what I feel, what I can't say with words but only with my body.

_Sweet fire of love  
For you I'd steal the stars_

When I feel your small hands take mine, I look down to convince myself it's real. Then into your eyes and I _know_ it's real. You pull me quietly back toward the palace as the rain stops and the clouds begin to part. Moonlight marks our path inside where I think that just for this one moment in time we might find the peace we've both sought all our lives.

You can make me forget who I am. Who we _both_ are. You can make me forget I'm not worthy of being loved the way I see in your eyes. The others are guarding now. They will alert us if something happens. But for this moment, I am yours and you are mine. As you strip my shirt from my rain-soaked skin, all that matters, Jun, is you.

_Cause I adore you  
O my morena_


End file.
